diff --git a/Zend/tests/bug70912.phpt b/Zend/tests/bug70912.phpt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..b3f2937a40a95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Zend/tests/bug70912.phpt
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+--TEST--
+Bug #70912 Null ptr dereference instantiating class with invalid array property
+--FILE--
+<?php
+new class {
+    public $a = [][];
+};
+?>
+--EXPECTF--
+Fatal error: Cannot use [] for reading in %s on line %d
diff --git a/Zend/zend_compile.c b/Zend/zend_compile.c
index 7044b6b94587f..594b82a9cce1e 100644
--- a/Zend/zend_compile.c
+++ b/Zend/zend_compile.c
@@ -7386,7 +7386,12 @@ void zend_eval_const_expr(zend_ast **ast_ptr) /* {{{ */
 
 			zend_eval_const_expr(&ast->child[0]);
 			zend_eval_const_expr(&ast->child[1]);
-			if (!ast->child[0] || !ast->child[1] || ast->child[0]->kind != ZEND_AST_ZVAL || ast->child[1]->kind != ZEND_AST_ZVAL) {
+
+			if (!ast->child[1]) {
+				zend_error_noreturn(E_COMPILE_ERROR, "Cannot use [] for reading");
+			}
+
+			if (ast->child[0]->kind != ZEND_AST_ZVAL || ast->child[1]->kind != ZEND_AST_ZVAL) {
 				return;
 			}